How Many World Cups Did Sachin Tendulkar Play? All You Need to Know

Sachin Tendulkar - 283 runs in the 1992 ODI World Cup 

A 19-year-old Sachin Tendulkar was already an integral part of the Indian national team when he debuted at the 1992 ODI World Cup hosted by Australia and New Zealand. His maiden World Cup match was against England at the WACA and the young lad could only make 35 runs before Ian Botham got his wicket. A rain-curtailed match against Sri Lanka meant  Tendulkar had to wait to get his second chance, which came against hosts Australia at the Brisbane Cricket Ground. This time Tom Moody got his wicket, which wasn't half as precious as it would later become in the coming editions.

Image Credits: Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images

Tendulkar’s first half-century in the ODI World Cup came in the fourth match of the round-robin stage when India faced archrivals Pakistan. With Aaqib Javed becoming unplayable for Indian batters at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Tendulkar stood his ground to score an unbeaten 54 runs. His innings made the difference eventually as Pakistan lost by 43 runs with Tendulkar winning the Man of the Match.

Tendulkar bettered his half-century with a match-defining 81 against Zimbabwe at Seddon Park, helping India to post a total of 203 runs and beat Zimbabwe by 55 runs. This fetched him yet another Man of the Match in consecutive matches. India was humbled by a strong West Indian side in the next game as Tendulkar was dismissed for four runs by Curtly Ambrose. 

India took on co-hosts New Zealand next with a qualification spot at stake and by no means were the favorites. The visitors had a nightmarish start with opener Kirs Srikkanth getting out for a duck and an injured Ajay Jadeja leaving the ground. Tendulkar forged a crucial 127-run partnership alongside captain Mohammad Azharuddin and ended the game as India’s high scorer (84). A target of 231 runs wasn’t easy back then but New Zealand opener Mark Greatbatch and Anrde Jones just blew away Indian bowlers.

Tendulkar ended the tournament with a paltry 14 runs against South Africa, a match that was reduced to a mere formality as their qualification chances were over before the final league game.

Sachin Tendulkar - 523 runs in the 1996 ODI World Cup

By the next World Cup, Tendulkar had both experience and conditions on his side with India co-hosting the tournament alongside Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The round-robin stage was traded for a group plus knockout stage with India hosting underdogs Kenya in the opening game. Tendulkar had been promoted to top-order by now and he took this opportunity to assert his dominance with an unbeaten 127-run knock. His inning helped India chase 200 runs in 42 overs.

Thereafter came the big guns but Tendulkar remained undeterred in his cause to hand India a strong start. A brilliant 70 against the West Indies was followed by a crucial 90-run knock against the mighty Australia, albeit in a losing cause.

With India thriving in familiar conditions and a young Tendulkar in the form of his life, India looked destined to lift their second ODI World Cup, when calamity struck. Having beaten neighbors and co-hosts Pakistan in the quarter-final, the Men in Blue were favorites to advance to the final with Sri Lanka as their semi-final opponents.

Having to chase a competitive target of 252 runs, Tendulkar tallied 65 to hand India a strong start but the remaining batting order collapsed like a house of cards. With the scoreboard reading 120/8, the match had to be called off owing to an unruly crowd and Sri Lanka was declared the winner. 

Though India exited from the semis, Tendulkar ended the tournament as the highest run scorer with two centuries and three half-centuries.

Sachin Tendulkar - 253 runs in the 1999 World Cup 

Image Credits: Allsport/ALLSPORT

India’s 1999 World Cup campaign was quite similar to the 1992 edition when overseas conditions didn’t help them much. To make things worse, this was one of the only three World Cups where Tendulkar had failed to tally 300 runs.

Tendulkar started his third World Cup campaign with an underwhelming 28 against South Africa as India lost their opening game. They needed to find a way back but Tendulkar lost his father during the tournament and had to fly home overnight. The Men in Blue played the second game in a dire situation as a Tendulkar-less team succumbed to Zimbabwe by three runs to further move down the group points table.

However, the Master Blaster, as he was famously known by now, stunned everyone to return to the tournament for India’s third game against Kenya. While no one expected Tendulkar to stand out in the game, he scored an unbeaten 140 in Bristol to help India register their first victory in the tournament.

India would win their next two matches against Sri Lanka and England to advance into the Super Six stage, where they were to face Australia, Pakistan and New Zealand. Tendulkar could only score against one of those three opponents, a 45 against Pakistan, which was the only game India won in the knockout group stage before bowing out of the 1999 World Cup.

Sachin Tendulkar - 673 runs in 2003 World Cup

It was quite evident by now that Team India’s progression in World Cups was directly proportional to Sachin Tendulkar’s performances in the tournament. Before the 2003 ODI World Cup, India had reached the semi-finals in 1996, the only edition where the Little Master had tallied over 500 runs to end as the tournament’s highest run-scorer.

After an underwhelming outing in 1999, which was followed by a large exodus of veterans from the squad and a captaincy change following Mohammad Azharuddin’s match-fixing scandal, India entered the 2003 World Cup as underdogs. The team largely consisted of youngsters and an inexperienced captain, Sourav Ganguly, leading the side. Tendulkar was the side’s most important player now and he kicked off the campaign with a half-century against the Netherlands.

India had to face Australia, Zimbabwe, England, Pakistan, Netherlands and Namibia in Pool A and the Men in Blue won all their games barring one, against eventual champions Australia. If Tendulkar had announced his arrival on the world stage during the ‘96 World Cup, he was dominating the tournament in 2003.

Whether it be an 81 against Zimbabwe, a splendid 152 runs against Namibia, a crucial 50 against England, a momentous 98 against Pakistan or an avenging 97 against Sri Lanka in the Super 6, Tendulkar was the best player of the tournament. India would face Kenya in the semis and Tendulkar’s 83 alongside captain Ganguly’s 111-run knock had pretty much ensured India a place in the final even before Kenya came to bat.

Though a star-studded Australian side were the massive favorites to lift the trophy, Tendulkar’s form and India’s marauding run in the tournament had gotten the fans to hope against hope. However, Australian batters ended the competition before it started with a 359-run total on the board. Tendulkar could only score four runs in the final, ending his 2003 World Cup-tally on 673 runs -  the most number of runs scored by any batsman in a single World Cup edition. He won the Man of the Series.

Sachin Tendulkar - 64 runs in 2007 ODI World Cup 

The darkest chapter in Indian cricket’s history came during the 2007 World Cup. The format had changed from two big groups of eight teams to four smaller groups of four teams each. India were pitted against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bermuda in Group B, with qualification almost guaranteed. 

But, under new captain Rahul Dravid’s captaincy, the team lacked mettle and lost to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in their group to bow out of the tournament from the group stages itself. This had resulted in a huge uproar back in the country with fans even burning effigies of players. 

Tendulkar, however, had managed an unbeaten 54 against Bermuda  and ended the tournament on 64 runs - his lowest in any World Cup.

Sachin Tendulkar - 482 runs in 2011 World Cup

The World Cup had returned to India after 15 years and a 38-year-old Sachin Tendulkar was playing his sixth and last World Cup in all probability. There was a change in captaincy yet again, with MS Dhoni leading the side this time. The team had a different look as well with the youngsters of 2003 now experienced enough to handle pressure. 

India started the tournament with a thumping 87-run win against Bangladesh and Tendulkar getting run-out on 28. With the rise of Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Dhoni and other batters, the nation was not over-reliant on Tendulkar for the very first time. This didn’t stop an aged Tendulkar to play a brilliant 120-run inning against England in the second group match. 

Image Credits: Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images

Though the batter wasn’t at his absolute best, he had still managed two centuries in the tournament, the second one coming against South Africa in the group stage game. Defending champions Australia were yet again on their path but Tendulkar’s 53 followed by Yuvraj Singh’s heroics meant India would beat them by five wickets in the quarter-final.

A blockbuster semi-final against Pakistan awaited the host nation in Mohali and Tendulkar rose to the occasion and scored a brilliant 85 that helped the side post a target of 261 runs in 50 overs. Pakistan eventually fell short by 29 runs to set up an India vs Sri Lanka finale at the Wankhede Stadium.

Batting first, Sri Lanka gave a target of 275 runs in a nerve-wracking summit clash and although Tendulkar could score just 18 runs in the final, Gautam Gambhir (97) and MS Dhoni (91*) ensured that India won the game comfortably with 10 balls to spare. 

After lifting his very first World Cup in the very first attempt, a young Virat Kohli, who would later go on to become the king of cricket, had famously said, “He has carried the hopes of a nation for so many years. This was that gift from all of those people for him because he kept giving, giving, giving for India and I thought what better way at his home ground to realize his dream and then he gets a lap of honor.”

Though Sachin Tendulkar played the most World Cups in cricket, he played the second most number of World Cup matches (45) with Ricky Ponting playing 46 of them, courtesy of Australia winning three consecutive titles. Tendulkar, however, ended his career with 2278 World Cup runs which is the most by any cricketer ever. The second most runs in a World Cup is scored by Ricky Ponting (1743), who is over 500 runs shorter than Tendulkar.